Lesson video

Hello, I am Miss Corbett, and I'm so glad that you chose to learn with me today.

I'm really excited for today's lesson sequencing and making a story mountain about "The Magic Porridge Pot", because sequencing a story and making a story mountain is the first step into being able to write your very own story, which I can't wait for.

So for today, you need your listening ears, your looking eyes, and your thinking brains.

It would also be great if you could have the Story Mountain Worksheet and the pictures from the story in front of you.

If you don't, you could just get yourself a plain piece of paper and something to write with.

Can you go and make sure you've got those things now? Pause the video.

Fantastic, I think we're ready to get started.

So today's lesson outcome is, I can sequence a story and use it to retell.

So, you will create your own sequence version of "The Magic Porridge Pot" and use it to retell the whole story.

Here are keywords, which will help us get there.

Are you ready to repeat them after me? My turn then your turn.

Story mountain, sequence, main events, adjective.

Well done.

Here is the first part of our lesson, sequencing events.

Let's look at the main events, one of our key words, the most important part of the story in a story mountain.

And by the time you've got the end, I think you'll be able to know why it's a story mountain, and I will use it to retell the story.

Once upon a time, there lived a young girl named Jin and her grandmother in a small mountain village.

One day, Jin went exploring in a bamboo forest.

There she met a wise, mysterious woman.

The old woman gave her a magical porridge pot.

After that, she was so excited to go home and make some delicious porridge, which she shared with her neighbours.

Then the magical porridge pot started to overflow and flood the streets.

Suddenly, Jin remembered how to stop the porridge and uttered the magic words.

Finally, Jin could make porridge for all of her neighbours, and they all lived happily ever after.

Can you see that I managed to retell the story using the main events, and it's called a story mountain, because it's in the shape of a mountain going from the beginning all the way to the end.

So, sequencing is placing events into order.

Let's have a look at these three events from the story.

I don't think they're in order.

Let's try and put them into order.

Once upon a time, the first thing that happens in the story.

Hmm? Once upon a time, a young girl named Jin lived in a small mountain village with her grandmother.

What happened next? One day, did she make the porridge or did she get the porridge pot first? One day she went exploring in a bamboo forest and met a mysterious old woman.

The woman gave her a magical porridge pot.

Then, Jin made some delicious porridge for all of her neighbours.

Now they are in the right order, which means they're sequenced.

Fantastic, I wonder if you can sequence these final three events from the story.

So, which one was first, then next, and after that? You could use the sequencing language that I can see to help you.

Suddenly, the streets filled with porridge.

It was chaos.

Finally, then the villages worked together as a team to clean up the porridge, and they felt relieved.

After that, the porridge pot started to overflow.

Can you put them into the correct order? Maybe you could use some of your storytelling language to help you.

Pause the video now and off you go.

Well done.

Can you get your pointing finger ready? And can you point to the event that happens first so we can sequence the events? Well done.

After that, Jin accidentally uttered the magic words twice and the porridge pot overflowed.

Can you get your pointing finger and point to the next one, the next event and put it into sequence? Suddenly, the streets overflowed with porridge.

Well done, and point to it.

Finally, the villagers worked as a team to clean up the streets.

Well done.

So, we know that the mountain shape helps us to remember the sequence of events.

When we create a story mountain, we only include the main events.

So, we have the beginning of the story.

Here is the beginning of the story where the characters and the settings are introduced.

Then we have the middle, where we come to the problem.

And finally, we have the end where we solve the problem and get to the end of the story.

So, the story mountain includes the main event.

It doesn't include every single small detail, because we'd be there forever.

The main events are the important things that happen in the story and that make the story flow and easy to follow.

There are lots of other moments in the story, but we do not put everything on our story mountain.

So for example, we haven't put in our story mountain she whispered the words, "Cook, little pot, cook," because just by saying that Jin made the magical porridge is enough.

So, which of the following is a main event? A really important part of the story that we need to hear for it to make sense.

Are you listening? Jin was a kind and curious girl with a fiery spirit.

The wise old woman gave Jin a magical porridge pot.

Nobody knew what to do.

The magical porridge pot overflowed filling the streets with porridge.

So which of those are the most important things? Could you pause the video and have a little talk about it? Off you go.

Well done, let's see.

The main events are the wise old woman giving Jin a magical porridge pot.

If we didn't include that part of the story, we wouldn't know where the porridge pot came from.

And the magical porridge pot overflowed filling the streets with porridge.

Also, a really important part, because it's part of the problem that needs to be solved.

Well done if you got that.

I am ready to sequence the main event of my story mountain.

I have my story mountain, and I have the six main events cut out from the story.

I also have a glue stick with me.

So, I'm going to look at each picture and decide which one comes first.

Hmm.

Maybe you could help me.

Maybe you could point to it.

Once upon a time, a young girl named Jin lived in a tiny village.

Now, before I stick them on, I'm going to make sure I have them all in the right place.

One day she met an old woman in the bamboo forest.

Then, she made some delicious porridge.

After that, the porridge pot overflowed.

It was chaotic.

Suddenly, Jin remembered how to stop the porridge pot from making porridge.

And finally, that the villagers work together as a team to clean them up.

I think I've got them in the correct order.

So now, I'm going to stick them on with glue.

I'm going to put some glue on them, and then stick them on.

And I'm going to do that with all of them.

And now, it's your turn to make your story mountain.

You are now going to use the illustrations provided to sequence the main events of the story onto the story mountain, starting with the beginning all the way to the end.

If you've got your story mountain in your images, you can cut them out and stick them in.

If you haven't, you could draw your own and draw the main events of the story.

Can you pause the video now, and off you go.

Well done, I can see some fantastic story mountains.

Your story mountain should look a little bit like this with our six main events in order.

Have a look really closely.

Did you manage to sequence the main events of the story onto the story mountain correctly? Well done if you did.

Fantastic.

Now, we're moving on to the second part of our story, adding sequencing language.

Very exciting, because that makes us storytellers.

Sequencing words tell the reader when the event happened.

So, I'm going to show you some examples, because sequencing words often also start the sentence to sequence the event.

Once upon a time.

That sequencing language often comes at the very beginning, because it's introducing the story.

It also is used in fairy tales and traditional tales a lot.

Once upon a time.

Are you ready to repeat the next one? One day, that's another one that quite often comes at the start of a story, but could also come at any point just to show that it's the start of a new day.

Then, to show something that's happening then.

After that.

Suddenly.

Now, suddenly is used when something is shocking happens or something that is a surprise and not unexpected.

Can you do that for me? Suddenly, and finally, well done.

Now, some of these words can be used at any point in the story really.

Then, after that.

Other ones have to happen at certain times.

Once upon a time, has to start at the beginning.

Finally, has to start at the end.

Suddenly, has to happen when something shocking or surprising has happened, and one day, has to come when a new day starts.

So, using the sequencing words, can you match the sequencing words to the picture? So, is it suddenly the young girl met an old woman in the forest? Is it one day a young girl met a woman in the forest, or is it then, so you have the sequencing language to choose one day, then, and suddenly.

And you've got three pictures to match them.

Pause the video, and off you go.

Well done, and I loved if you said it in a full sentence.

So let's have a look.

One day, Jin met a mysterious old woman in the forest.

That shows something that happens at the start of the day.

Hmm.

Then, then, then, Jin learnt how to make porridge for everyone.

Suddenly, suddenly the magic porridge pot overflowed.

Suddenly, that's the only one that we could use suddenly for.

Something shocking or surprising.

Did you get it? Well done.

Some sentences start with sequencing words, but some do not.

If every sentence started with one, it would get a little bit repetitive and boring.

One day, Jin was feeling hungry so she went exploring.

She met a mysterious old woman.

Can you see that one of our sentences starts with a sequencing word and one of them doesn't.

One day, is our sequencing language, and she met a mysterious old woman.

Doesn't need any sequencing language, because it's just extra detail.

Then, the wise woman gave her a magical porridge pot.

She explained that if Jin whispered the words, "Cook, little pot, cook," she would be rewarded with a tasty treat.

Again, because we used then to sequence the next part of the story we don't need another sequencing word.

So, the sequencing words are, do you think you could find them? I'm going to give you 10 seconds.

A clue is that they come at the start of our sentences.

Ready? 10 seconds.

Ten, five.

Did you get them all? Well done if you did.

Let's see.

We had one day, and then, fantastic.

Now, it's your turn to try and spot the sequencing words on your own.

Remember, quite often our sequencing words come at the start of the sentence.

So, they need a capital letter, and they're telling they're sequencing an event.

So, which of these are sequencing an event? Are you ready to listen? Wise, hmm? Is that helping put something in order? After that, is that helping put something in order to sequence? Suddenly, and she.

Do you think you can be sequencing word detectives and find them? Pause the video, and try and find them, off you go.

Well done if you managed to find them.

Let's see if you are right.

We have got after that.

That's a sequencing word.

It's telling us, helping us put our events into order.

And everybody, suddenly, well done.

Wise is an adjective, a word that we would use to describe something or someone like the wise old woman.

And she is a word that we can use to replace when we're talking about a female like Jin.

She met an old woman.

Now, I am going to add sequencing language to my story mountain.

I've got the sequencing language printed out in front of me to help me.

So, the first event, suddenly, after that, then, finally, once upon a time, or one day, hmm? It's the first event that happens.

So, I think I'm going to use once upon a time.

I know that when I'm using it to write my story, it's going to start my sentence.

So, I'm gonna start with a capital letter for once, o, n, c, e.

Upon, up, on, a time, t, i, m, e, time.

Then it has a comma to start my sentence.

Once upon a time.

Now, I've used that one, I'm going to cross it off.

Let's have a look at the next bit.

Here is a new day.

So, I'm going to use, can you read it with me? One d, ay, day.

So, I'm going to copy it.

One, capital letter, d, a, a, y likes to be at the end, one day.

Hmm? What should I use next? Is it suddenly, is it shocking, after that? No.

Then, finally, it's not the last thing.

I might use then.

Th, e, n, then.

Capital T, Th, e, n, Then, with my comma, cross that out.

Now, I could use suddenly, or I could use after that.

Hmm? I might use after that.

That's two words a, f, t, er.

This er likes to be at the end, th, a, t, that.

After that, comma, cross that out.

I have two left.

Suddenly, this is one.

Thank goodness out of nowhere this happened.

Suddenly, s, u, d, oh, it's a double d.

Make sure I'm looking.

E, n, l, e, suddenly.

The e's being made by the letter y, suddenly.

And then the last one that is left, my final event, F, i, n, a, l e.

My e's being made by the letter y again, and I have finished.

Now, it's your turn to add your sequencing language.

Now, I've had my turn.

It's your turn to add your sequencing words to the story mountain.

Get your story mountain in front of you, and have a look at the words that are there, and choose them, the ones that work best for you.

Remember, we want to start with once upon a time and end with finally.

Pause the video, and off you go.

Here's an example of what yours could have looked like.

I decided to start with once upon a time and end with finally, and I chose suddenly to show that Jin remembered how to stop the porridge pot.

You might have used suddenly to show when the porridge pot overflowed.

We can use different sequencing language as long as it makes sense and helps the story to follow.

So, did you manage to add sequencing language to your story mountain? Well done.

Our final part of the lesson is going to be adding descriptive language to our story now.

Descriptive language makes the story more interesting and helps create a picture in the reader's mind.

And now we are storytellers, that's what we want to do.

Have a look at this picture here from the story.

Here are some words that I could use to describe it.

I could say that Jin was curious.

Ready, curious.

Here's the next one.

Amazed, Jin was amazed by the magical porridge pot.

Surprised, Jin was surprised by the magical porridge pot.

Grateful, Jin was grateful for the magical porridge pot.

So we can have a think.

All of those words would work, but we could think about which one would work best for you.

Have a look at this picture here.

Let's think about some words that we could choose to describe this.

Panicked, the porridge pot wouldn't stop.

Jin felt panicked.

Jin felt scared.

Jin felt confused.

Jin felt chaotic, or it was chaotic.

So again, you can decide which words to use.

And all of these words are adjectives.

One of our key words, adjectives describe nouns.

An adjective describes a noun.

Well done.

So we are describing the characters and the characters are people, which means they are nouns.

Have a think about which adjectives we could use to describe these settings.

The places are also nouns.

I can see the forest.

Hmm.

How could I describe it? Listen to some of my ideas.

Lush, something is lush it means it's full and beautiful.

Mysterious, shadowy, green.

So, I could say Jin went into the lush forest.

Jin went into the mysterious forest, Jin went into the shadowy forest, or Jin went into the green forest.

What about this part of the story? Let's have a look.

The setting was messy.

The streets were messy.

Crowded, the streets were crowded.

Overflowing, the streets were overflowing with porridge.

Chaotic, that's the same adjective again.

So we know that there are lots of different adjectives that we could use.

Have a think and choose the best adjective to describe how the villages were feeling at the end of the story.

So, at the end of the story, they've cleaned everything up, and they're eating their delicious porridge together.

Would you choose starving? Content, which means they're happy and full.

Angry, hmm? Which one would you choose? Have a think, and I'm going to ask you in five seconds.

Five.

Which one would you choose? I would choose content.

They were starving at the start of the story.

Well, Jin and the grandmother were, but by the end, they had their food and they were full and all happy together, which means they were content.

They definitely weren't angry.

Now, choose the best adjective to describe how the village looked at the end of the story.

Again, thinking about the end.

Everything was cleared up, everything was good.

Would it be tidy, chaotic, or happy? Hmm, I'm not sure whether I'd describe a place as happy? I'd describe a person as happy.

Hmm, there's gonna be five seconds.

Five.

I would choose tidy, because the villagers work together to tidy it up.

It was chaotic before, because it was full of porridge, but not at the end.

And I wouldn't describe the village as happy, but you might describe the villagers as happy.

I'm ready to add descriptive language to my story mountain.

I'm going to choose one adjective per main event.

You can see I've already started.

I've described the village as small.

Once upon a time, a curious girl named Jin, lived in a small village.

Sm, a, ll, small.

One day, Jin went to a um forest.

Oh, let me think.

Lush, green, huge, shadowy.

I quite like shadowy.

Could you stretch that with me? Shadowy, sh, a, d, o, e, shadowy.

Sh, that's my digraph.

Sh, a, d, o, now shadow.

The o is at the end.

So, I think it's o, w, o, shadow e.

Quite often adjectives ending in an e sound is spelled with the letter Y.

Sh, a, d, o, e, shadowy.

Fantastic.

Then, Jin made some um porridge.

Delicious, tasty, scrumptious, or I might think of creamy.

Could you stretch creamy with me? Creamy, c, er, e, m, e, creamy.

C, er, e, I know it's ea, e.

C, er, e, m, e.

And I know if an e is an adjective, it often ends with a y, creamy.

Then she made some creamy porridge.

After that, the um streets were filled with porridge.

The messy, stretch it with me.

Messy, m, e, s, e, messy.

M, e, s, double s, e, messy.

M, e, s, e, messy.

Suddenly, Jin remembered how to stop the um pot.

Enchanted, that's a long word.

Could you stretch it with me? Enchanted, e, n, ch, a, n, t, ed, enchanted.

That's a lot of sounds.

I'm going to keep sounding it out as I go to remind myself.

E, n, ch, C, H, e, n, ch, a, n, t.

E, n, ch, a, n, t, ed.

Now, sounds like it should be e, d, ed.

but I know that it's quite often that ed ending, enchanted.

Finally, the villagers were feeling overjoyed.

That's a nice adjective, overjoyed.

I'm going to break that word up.

Overjoyed, so I'm going to do over first.

O, v, er, 'cause we know that er likes the end.

Overjoyed, j, oy, ed, joyed.

J, oy, d, and same as that ed.

That d is being made by my ed.

I have added an adjective to every part of my story mountain.

I can't wait to see your adjectives now.

Now, we have looked at so many different adjectives to describe different parts of the story.

You are going to add one adjective for each main event of the story.

Try and think about using your phonics to help you sound it out, or you could go back and have a look at some of the ones that we chose.

Try and choose one adjective to add to each part of your story.

Then, you need to use your story mountain to retell the whole story, including your sequencing language and your adjective that you have chosen.

So, if you chose young to describe Jin at the very start, you would start, "Once upon a time, a young girl lived with her grandmother in the mountains." Okay, pause the video now, and off you go.

Here are some adjectives that I have seen.

Once upon a time, a young girl named Jin lived in a tiny village in the mountains.

One day, Jin was curious about the magic porridge pot that the old woman gave to her.

Then, Jin made some delicious porridge.

After that, the streets were messy full of spilling porridge.

Suddenly, Jin remembered how to stop the enchanted magical pot.

Finally, the villagers felt content after cleaning up the mess and eating the porridge.

I wonder whether your adjectives were similar or different to mine, and well done for telling the story using your descriptive language.

Thank you so much for learning with me today.

I've loved our lesson today.

And we now know that retelling a story helps us to remember the main events.

Story mountains map out the beginning, middle, and end of a story.

Only the most important events in the story need to be on a story mountain.

Using sequencing language such as one day or after that helps the reader to follow the story and adding adjectives will help when we are writing the story down.

Thank you so much for learning with me today, and I hope to see you again soon, bye.